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Nick Universe Grand Opening PTR


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I had SO much fun today for no real good reason other than riding fun rides with fun people during the "offseason."

 

A brief overview...

 

I arrived around 8:20am and watched the opening ceremonies that took place a little after 9am. Went to SB first thing (of course!) and watched the teen Nick celebs ride and then got on in 5-10 minutes once the ride opened.

 

I cannot lie, the first ride on SB was really disappointing for me. I wasn't even hyping it in my head, I just wanted it to be fun. But seriously, it wasn't. Even the park guests next to me said "This is so SLOW!" during the ride and then "Well, that was a waste" in the brake run. I remember thinking I would rather ride Mad Mouse at VF. It was slow, shaky and lame without any real great moments. It's hard for me to process my thoughts about this first ride, though, because LUCKILY it got much, much better!

 

My second ride was the fun ride I was looking for in the first place. My third (in the back row) was more "Wow this is amazingly awesome." I cannot tell you how happy I am it redeemed itself. I was totally ready to come on TPR and call out everyone who liked it as a liar .

 

Avatar is a great ride. I absolutely loved it and am very excited to have it close by. It's a shame it's so low-capacity, but I know that I will have plenty of chances to get some good rides in on it. I laughed throughout the entire ride, it was so fun. And looking out of the ceiling that is two feet from your head is very cool!

 

I was actually really impressed with Splat-o-Sphere. I would best describe it as a "toned-down, kid-friendly version of Tower of Terror." The ride program is interesting and, even after watching it while in line, kept me guessing throughout the ride. Basically you don't know when you are going to drop, how far you will drop, how far you will shoot back up, so on and so forth. Great fun for all ages!

 

A big thank you to everyone who made today so fun!

 

 

Finding a parking spot was a NIGHTMARE!

 

Luckily I wasn't the only idiot there so early, the Ashlee fans out-geeked me!

 

Where the opening ceremonies took place

 

The man himself! He kept the crowd entertained with his mad dancing skillz

 

Getting things rollin' -- the Nick DJ and (I believe) Pres. & Vice Pres of MOA

 

Crazy Nick characters

 

Fun balloons!

 

The boys from Naked Bros Band getting ready to ride -- funny kids!

 

More Nick stars

 

They totally should've hired Robb to duct tape his camera to the ride...talent in the back row and crew in the from row here. The two guys were holding the camera and mic over their heads...classy!

 

Those darn celebs rode twice...hopefully NU got their money's worth

 

Fun ride!

 

Avatar!

 

HUMAN AIR GATES READY GO! Seriously they were doing this all day and it looked pretty ridiculous. Hopefully they come up with a better solution

 

For all you Intamin/Allen Bradley control panel fans out there (or new shiny uniform fans, I suppose)

 

I could get used to this...

 

Obligatory Ashlee Simpson walk-by photo

 

A brief side story:

 

During the opening ceremonies the DJ was trying to get the crowd excited and it went a little something like this:

 

DJ: Who's ready to meet SpongeBob and Dora?!?!

Crowd: Moderate cheering.

DJ: Who's ready to see the Naked Bros Band, (little?) JJ and iCarly?!?!

Crowd: Loud cheering

DJ: And who's ready for the Ashlee Simpson live concert?!?!

Crowd: *crickets churping*

 

Seriously, I was happy I was close enough to hear all the MOA staff crack up at the crowd's reaction. Wooooo Ashlee!

 

Anyway...

 

"Awesome new themeing wall...wait, it's still wet!"

 

Feeling blue?

 

Group shot while waiting in line for SB

 

"Oh look, there's a convenient SB support for me to make out with"

 

Stalkerish undercover escalator shot

 

We were playing coaster and amusement park A-Z to make the line go faster when we got stuck on a coater with a "Q" Hey, looking it up on RCDB is cheating!

 

Fairly Odd people on the Fairly Odd Coaster (kidding!)

 

SB themeing

 

"I wonder if they're real?"

 

"No, they are not."

 

We were suprised even the shells had autospiels..."Welcome to Nickelodeon Universe!!!!! This shell needs to be returned to it's proper place or you will be evicted from the park. Have a great day!"

 

Yes, I (reluctantly) purchased an annual pass. I know I will love having it and hey, I could be addcited to worse things right? RIGHT?!?

 

I really enjoyed the park. I'm not a native Minnesotan so I don't have strong opinions on the whole transformation, but I definitely look forward to having it around.

 

Thanks for reading!

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What a great TR! I really wish we could have come out for the opening. It was funny seeing Jerry in CA last weekend and in this TR this weekend.

 

We'll get out here at some point soon. I loved MOA, Camp Snoopy, and this looks great!

 

Thanks for posting this.

 

--Robb

 

PS. Q = Quantum Loop!

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DJ: And who's ready for the Ashlee Simpson live concert?!?!

Crowd: *crickets churping*

 

I'm surprised Ashlee Simpson is still performing, that part did put a grin on my face though.

 

Great TR though, it looks like Nick did a bang up job of upgrading MOA/Camp Snoopy. Also, glad to hear Spongebob is decent after a few rides.

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DJ: And who's ready for the Ashlee Simpson live concert?!?!

Crowd: *crickets churping*

 

I'm surprised Ashlee Simpson is still performing, that part did put a grin on my face though.

 

She wasn't, it was really a hologram because she was afraid of a Britney type comeback.

 

Anyways, good TR, and I'll be happy to ride Spongebob firsthand and the rethemed rides!

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Nice TR!

 

Anyone up for going out there mid-week this upcoming week? I'll be back in Minnesota Wednesday-Sunday (my flight from Seattle gets in too late on Tuesday to go then). Wednesday and Thursday nights would be the best options

 

Paul "Born and raised Minnesooooooooooootan, don't ya know?" Miller

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Great TR!

 

I've also noticed that the Eurofighters can be very hit or miss and a lot of it depends on the individual cars themselves. Hopefully the mall will keep up maintenance on them or there will be a lot of rough not fun rides!

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^

I really agree with that. Mystery Mine gets alot of hate for being rough but it really depends on where you sit and what car. The front is always rougher than the back on Euro Fighters is what I find.

 

Mystery Mine inproved alot by the end of the season with giving consistent good rides. I think they got more used to dealing with it and maintaining a steel coaster. Also by the end of the season the didn't trim it as bad so you got awsome ejector off the trestle!

 

Lets all hope this stays good!

 

So that drop have some good ejector?

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I had a great time despite the crowds..

Nice to meet up with some of the locals again.

 

I arrived at the mall at about 8:30 am getting a front row parking spot near a door with no problem.

 

Entered the park via the north entrance near guest relations where I meet up with another local enthusiast who ended up spending the day with me.

 

Some comments...

 

On our first ride on Sponge Bob there was a youngster who was uncertain about waiting and questioning his mental ability to ride it. He did not want the end and wanted the security of riding in the middle of the car between . He liked it so I suspect there is going to be alot of youngsters who get in over there heads.

 

Avatar is very good, providing a better ride that it appears. based on 2 rides balance is important on each of the 6 passenger clusters for a good spinning action.

 

Did not ride Splatospere as queue was too long and I'm probley not compatible with the seating.

 

Rode orange streak a couple of times, Fairly Odd Coaster twice. Same coasters just different names and logo's.

 

NU did a pretty good job coping with the crowds on opening day

 

Jerry

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^

I really agree with that. Mystery Mine gets alot of hate for being rough but it really depends on where you sit and what car. The front is always rougher than the back on Euro Fighters is what I find.

 

Mystery Mine inproved alot by the end of the season with giving consistent good rides. I think they got more used to dealing with it and maintaining a steel coaster. Also by the end of the season the didn't trim it as bad so you got awsome ejector off the trestle!

 

Lets all hope this stays good!

 

So that drop have some good ejector?

 

I rode during October and the front of Mystery Mine was still rough. Very cool pictures of Nick and thank you for posting them.

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Thanks for the comments, everyone!

 

I guess I wasn't aware how tempermental the Euro Fighters really were. It is especially strange to think about in this situation because the "weather factor" has been elimintated. Let's hope SB can deliver more rides than it will disappoint.

 

I agree that the SpongeBob name is...an interesting choice. It doesn't really bother me, but I admit I feel a little awkward talking about how I "like to ride SpongeBob in the back," or "am excited I can ride SpongeBob 364 days a year." Whoops!

 

It's kind of hard to wrap my head around that I don't need to fall victim to the "offseason blues" anymore...I can't wait to get to NU when it's less busy and ride more and more!

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Even though I'm rather past the age of the whole "Nick Universe" thing, I wouldn't mind checking out the Spongebob coaster (I like them Eurofighters). Is the shooting dark ride still there?

 

Nice work, Kara--excellent TR.

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